When Albert was on the field he was dominant. I just wish he could be out there more.Posted by tcal2-

we saw today how important he could be during the playoffs. given is health track record, i would rather save him for the playoffs than play him more now. i want his snaps limited until after game 12. play him just enough so he does not get too fat, but keep him healthy. after game 12 is when i want bb to easing him to to more snaps, so he'll be in full swing for the playoffs.

In Response to Re: Big Al healthy + Andre Carter =? : Sorry, his false start really helped the cause. Where's the guy that was saying he was good for three catches a game the rest of the year?Posted by Patsfansince1966

...Ocho did not have a false start today. He was on the field for 6 snaps and was completely irrelevant so I'm obviously not vouching for him but let's get the facts straight before you pin a boneheaded penalty on somebody. Welker had the false start today.

rumors are that the Pats are one of five teams interested in Lloyd and he played for Josh McDaniels. Not much different from the offense we still have today so he would pick it up quickly. if they get him, i'm sure it doesn't look good ( like it really has ) for Chad 85. He needs to change his name back to Johnson while he still has a chance and it's a shame, i was a huge fan of him coming here but maaaaan Reche Caldwell outplayed him to this point and he learned the routes playing Madden. somebody by Chad Madden 11 please!! i want another ring!

with no real threat outside the numbers it may get tighter and tighter on welker and gronk/hern. particularly in the playoffs. (the more tom will have to throw lasers on every pass-too fine)

little concern for the playoffs.unless they start playing price and he is consistently a threat outside the #'s by the end of the year. i feel on offense we really need a legit consistent outside the #s threat (so a good d in the playoffs cant shut us down).

with no real threat outside the numbers it may get tighter and tighter on welker and gronk/hern. particularly in the playoffs. (the more tom will have to throw lasers on every pass-too fine) little concern for the playoffs. unless they start playing price and he is consistently a threat outside the #'s by the end of the year. i feel on offense we really need a legit consistent outside the #s threat (so a good d in the playoffs cant shut us down).Posted by brdbreu

Do you think any defense will assign two guys to Price? No defense will let any receiver go uncovered behind the secondary. There are a few guys in the NFL who will pull the safety every time but none are on the Pats. Price will get the same respect as Branch or Ocho or Welker going deep, or less.

The DLs played a great game, getting decent pressure on Romo and being very stout against the run. Carter's sacks will get the most attention, but I am very impressed with his run defense too. He's a great addition. Haynesworth and Wilfork together up front are a load for any offensive line. Ellis quietly had a nice game, and Love holds his own when he's in there. Warren looks a little out of shape to me--but he played good when he was in and with some time to get back into shape, he could be a nice cog in the rotation. Anderson also plays well on passing downs. Will be interesting to see what happens with Brace and Deadrick, since there's too many guys if they both get healthy. I guess that's a nice problem to have!

LBs, I thought, were spotty yesterday. Some big plays by both Guyton and Spikes, but also some poor tackling at times. Honestly, I didn't notice Ninkovich much. Is that because he was doing his job or because he wasn't making any plays? Anyone notice? Maybe he just was blanketing Witten all day, since we heard little from Witten all game. If that's the case, then Nink played great! Again, though, I didn't really see what he was doing.

DBs are still leaving a lot of cushion on receivers. With Dallas's big receivers maybe this made sense, though. Better to play soft and make the tackle after the reception than to get beat and give up the big play. But we were helped, I think, by Dallas's conservative offensive play calling and their inability to get Witten and Bryant more involved. Those big receivers scared me coming into the game, but fortunately they weren't all that big a factor.

I really hate the way our offense stalls when a team is successful at getting pressure on Brady while still keeping decent coverage on the receivers. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Jets, the Ravens, and whatever team Rob Ryan is coaching (Browns, Cowboys) tend to have success against us. We really need to figure out a way to counter those defenses that disguise their fronts, bring (or at least threaten) good pressure, and also manage to cover our receivers well. I liked the Pats' super-fast hurry-up offense that managed to confuse the Ryan defense as much as that defense was trying to confuse our offense. It was a neat strategy--but at the same time, I felt it was risky, because sometimes our offense seemed on the edge of being out of control. Brady starts pressing a little in those situations, I think, and is more prone to throw a bad pass. Mostly, he's great, but just one mistake can destroy a whole good drive. I like mixing in the run more against these defenses. We did some of that, but maybe need to mix it up even more.

I'd love to see film on this game . . . it would be very interesting to break down given the complex strategies employed by both teams.

When Fat Al is in the game he can occupy TWO blockers, as he does on every play, and he can also collapse an entire side of an opponent's OL....he creates opportunities for the LB's and other DL's to make plays.....when they try to block him with one guy, it's a beautiful thing to watch him bull rush and collapse the pocket from the middle....that D is best when he's on the field...you watch, in about three weeks, and assuming he's not "injured' between now and then, he.ll be on the field more than 50% of the time, in much better shape, and that D will continue to improve by a wide margin...and they'll have sacks on a regular basis...

The DLs played a great game, getting decent pressure on Romo and being very stout against the run. Carter's sacks will get the most attention, but I am very impressed with his run defense too. He's a great addition. Haynesworth and Wilfork together up front are a load for any offensive line. Ellis quietly had a nice game, and Love holds his own when he's in there. Warren looks a little out of shape to me--but he played good when he was in and with some time to get back into shape, he could be a nice cog in the rotation. Anderson also plays well on passing downs. Will be interesting to see what happens with Brace and Deadrick, since there's too many guys if they both get healthy. I guess that's a nice problem to have! LBs, I thought, were spotty yesterday. Some big plays by both Guyton and Spikes, but also some poor tackling at times. Honestly, I didn't notice Ninkovich much. Is that because he was doing his job or because he wasn't making any plays? Anyone notice? Maybe he just was blanketing Witten all day, since we heard little from Witten all game. If that's the case, then Nink played great! Again, though, I didn't really see what he was doing. DBs are still leaving a lot of cushion on receivers. With Dallas's big receivers maybe this made sense, though. Better to play soft and make the tackle after the reception than to get beat and give up the big play. But we were helped, I think, by Dallas's conservative offensive play calling and their inability to get Witten and Bryant more involved. Those big receivers scared me coming into the game, but fortunately they weren't all that big a factor. I really hate the way our offense stalls when a team is successful at getting pressure on Brady while still keeping decent coverage on the receivers. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Jets, the Ravens, and whatever team Rob Ryan is coaching (Browns, Cowboys) tend to have success against us. We really need to figure out a way to counter those defenses that disguise their fronts, bring (or at least threaten) good pressure, and also manage to cover our receivers well. I liked the Pats' super-fast hurry-up offense that managed to confuse the Ryan defense as much as that defense was trying to confuse our offense. It was a neat strategy--but at the same time, I felt it was risky, because sometimes our offense seemed on the edge of being out of control. Brady starts pressing a little in those situations, I think, and is more prone to throw a bad pass. Mostly, he's great, but just one mistake can destroy a whole good drive. I like mixing in the run more against these defenses. We did some of that, but maybe need to mix it up even more. I'd love to see film on this game . . . it would be very interesting to break down given the complex strategies employed by both teams. Posted by prolate0spheroid

Well, people could just give the Dallas defense credit. It is amazing, absolutely amazing, that NE's defense can give up 28 to another team, and people will talk about how they played a tough offense.

Those three defenses (Jets not included this season, hahahaha) are some of the best in football period. Everyone has trouble with them, and the way to beat them is to execute.

The offense will never be perfect every week. This week, until the final drive NE kept running the ball, they executed. Mistakes were made. Dallas forces you into mistakes sometimes ... because they have the best pass rusher in the NFL and one of the three or four best run-stopping fronts.

That is exactly the kind of team where you need your defense to play it close instead of folding up. They played excellent AND Tom Brady put the dagger into Dallas' heart exactly when it mattered!

Between the last few weeks, I feel better about this team than I did at any point last season.

I think Albert is healthy but I still think he needs a couple more weeks to actually be in good game shape. As long as he keeps this up we could see the real Albert at peak performance level after the Bye week. That along with the return of Mayo is something I'm looking forward to.

I will say that AH pushed the pocket today but will he do it consistently - that's the scenario with him at this point in his career. Some games he shows up, other games he doesn't. Now, I don't know his health, just what I have seen him do on the field.

We saw it today, and I think this is a glimpse of what is possible from this defense should most be healthy and get time to play together.

I really loved how BB used Spikes in this game. With Al, Vince, Love, etc. collapsing the pocket and requiring doubles, Spikes was allowed to run almost free up the gut and make plays. I can't think of a game in recent memory where I saw as much consistent pressure as yesterday. It seemed to let up at times because of the scheme, but BB dialed it up when it mattered and the kids executed for the most part.

I'm on the fence however with Guyton. For the lilfe of me, I don't know why Fletcher isn't seeinig more reps. Is he not ready to make the calls as this seems like Guyton's responsibility? Could Spikes pick this up?...Fletcher seems to almost always be in the right place and fundamentally very sound. I want to see some more Fletcher going forward and a little less Guyton.

when prior and wright went on IR both players were not replaced with DL'S... bill is using those spots to shuffle in lesser level players that can provide depth for what ever area needs it...that week...

you can be sure that both deadrick and brace will give the team some good depth at the DL positions...not to mention they will be chomping at the bit and in good shape..

when prior and wright went on IR both players were not replaced with DL'S... bill is using those spots to shuffle in lesser level players that can provide depth for what ever area needs it...that week... you can be sure that both deadrick and brace will give the team some good depth at the DL positions...not to mention they will be chomping at the bit and in good shape..Posted by jcour382

I'm not sure both make the team anymore, just 1 imo. Taking a look at the team who would you dump? No one on the O side right now and for the DL I wouldn't replace a single player (with maybe the exception of Anderson or Cunningham but both are young and have the same upside as Brace or Deadrick). The secondary you can replace either Molden, Ventrone, or Moore with one of them but I wouldn't weaken an injury ridden secondary by releasing 2 of the 3 for a couple of DL players. I think they have given Brace enough time to prove himself and with the play of Love it might be a choice of whether they want a high upside DE in Deadrick who has been benched before or Brace who hasn't lived up to his potential yet. Of course they have 3 more weeks to decide so things could change by then but I don't see both making to the team this year.